


be okay

by scribo_ad_astra



Category: A3! (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Meltdown, Nonverbal Episodes, meltdown aftermath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 04:08:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30133758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribo_ad_astra/pseuds/scribo_ad_astra
Summary: “It’s-” Izumi reaches out instinctively, pausing mid-air and letting her hand linger for a few seconds before lowering it. “It’s alright, you know. To not be alright.”
Relationships: Ikaruga Misumi & Tachibana Izumi
Comments: 3
Kudos: 40





	be okay

The door creaks open, footsteps slowly making their way across the room. Three steps, four. Stop. 

“Hey.” Izumi crouches down. “You okay?” Her voice is soft. Too soft. Misumi doesn’t deserve this. Not after-

He chokes. Presses the palm of his heel against his eyes. Draws the blanket tighter around him. 

“It’s-” Izumi reaches out instinctively, pausing mid-air and letting her hand linger for a few seconds before lowering it. “It’s alright, you know. To not be alright.”

_“Yo, can you cover this person’s shift after yours? Thanks!”_

_“A protractor? Um, no, I haven’t seen one. Need to use mine?”_

_“Order for table eleven!”_

_“I haven’t seen it either.”_

_“We need more napkins over here!”_

_“No, sorry man. I’ll let you know if I find it.”_

_“Hurry, get that cleaned up already!”_

_“You’re still looking for it?”_

_Someone grabs his arm. “Hey-”_

He screams. Squeezes his eyes shut. Pushes the person away. Then he opens his eyes and his vision is swimming and Izumi is on the floor and Kazunari is next to him, hands thrown up quickly in surrender, and Misumi can’t look at him and Misumi can’t be _there he has to get out of there-_

He messed up.

Izumi shifts, readjusting her weight. 

_I’m sorry_ , Misumi wants to say, but the words get stuck on his tongue.

“You don’t have to say anything. Do you want me to leave?”

_No._ He shakes his head.

“Okay.” Izumi drops, crossing her legs into a more comfortable position. “Just let me know when you’re ready to go back downstairs.”

He doesn’t want to go back downstairs- doesn’t want to face the relentless deluge of _What the heck was that?_ and _What’s up, bro, you good? Like legit?_

“What’s up?” Speak of the devil, although his voice is lacking its usual vigorous energy.

Izumi looks up. “Kazunari….”

“I know. Um, Muku found this in the kitchen.” He holds up something transparent and three-sided, a familiar red logo on one corner. 

“Here.”

Misumi runs his finger down the ridges on the longest side, back and forth, feeling the vibrations under his calloused fingertip. Kazunari mumbles something about helping Omi out with dinner before backing out of the room - Misumi’s grateful for that, because while he does love Kazunari, he doesn’t think he can be around both him _and_ Izumi right now. 

_Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth._

“...feeling better?” Izumi asks after several minutes. And he is. He is, but he still messed up terribly, and he needs to fix it before it’s too late. 

He holds the protractor out. 

“Are you…” Izumi blinks. “Are you trying to give that to me?”

Nod.

“Oh, I don’t...I mean, you need it more than I do….”

Misumi frowns. 

“Is it because you pushed me? Don’t worry about it. I was more surprised than anything else, to be honest,” she laughs quietly. 

_Still…._

“Seriously, keep it.” She pushes the protractor back to him with a smile. “If you want to make it up to me, just do your best in the next play, okay?”

_Okay._ Misumi nods again. He can do that.

“Are you hungry? Dinner’s probably over, but we can heat up some leftovers. I think Omi made onigiri.”

The last comment is _unfairly_ tempting. Misumi’s stomach growls. (He remembers he skipped lunch on his shift too.) He stands up, holding onto the folds of the blanket to keep it from dropping. Tsumugi had once mentioned keeping a weighted blanket in his room - maybe he should ask about it later. 

“What was that about?” Tenma practically pounces on him when they reach the living room, words sharp and apprehensive, a thin cover for the concern lying underneath. Kazunari nudges their leader on the side before turning to Misumi. 

“Hey, bro, are you like, legit good?”

Misumi looks down. 

“Let’s give him some space, guys,” Izumi cuts in. 

“Okay.”

“Yeah, sure.”

_Thanks._ Maybe later he can make up for not saying it out loud. 

Izumi, to her credit, understands. “Come on,” she smiles. “Let’s go eat that onigiri.” 


End file.
